Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The calendar for 2015 has just about run out. And ladies and gentlemen boys and girls of all ages that means it's time to look back over the year that was 2015. UH, well back the truck up! No, let us look forward instead. Though I totally agree that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, that isn't the same as rehashing all of the actions of the past year. And no resolutions save for the only one that I can ever keep, and that being..."I resolve to make no New Years Resolutions." I lead a relatively goal-less life, there is no big golden sunset goal I am chasing, but I do like for my year to have a theme.And up until now, I haven't been able to come up with a theme, one year's was " the year of my story" and couple years ago it was "the year of the living rock" and before that "the year of horizons" yeah, they are pretty non specific terms, but I know what I mean, and if I turn out to be all too human and fail at meeting the description I can always reinterpret them. However, I caught myself in my own trap and thought of calling this "the year of daydreaming big" that sounded a bit like I had a goal in mind, so I will work on that and possibly use it next year. So I thought and thought and dug myself in a little deeper and thought some more and came up with....wait for it...."the year of dreaming forward" initially it was "looking forward", nah. couldn't say that either. Thoughts ran towards something about naps, or creative dreaming, no, by then I was swimming in Lake Silly again. So there you have it, or should say I have it, behold "2016 the year of dreaming forward."

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Though at my house. like most Americans, there are no celebrations on Boxing day. I am NOT, NOT,NOT going out to shop the After Christmas sale either. Instead I am using my tine to make a huge pot o vegetable soup, and some bread for sandwiches. But I thought is was pretty cool so, who knows next time I have a heap of leftovers it just might become pasties.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Dear ReaderI wish you joy, abundance, and a peaceful heart. I wish for you to find your hearts desire, or for it to find you.I wish that the light of this Season glows in you heart all year.I wish you the blessings of gratitude and the joy of sharing.I wish for you that some thing good comes your way each and every day

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Merry Christmas!from the universe.There hasn't been a full moon on Christmas since 1977 and there won't be another until 2034! though the moon won't be full until 6:11 AM tomorrow it will appear full all night tonight, and will possibly not be visible where you live during the daylight hours.A full moon on Christmas doesn't seem to have any particular spiritual meaning, which surprises me. The full moon is usually shown in Christmas art, and sometimes the Man on the moon is also shown, so one might think that there is. But as with Halloween, the full Moon is just the artists choice. And a beautiful one it is, also useful if you happen to be trying to circumnavigate the globe and leave gifts for everyone all in one night.

Be mas it may, it is a rare occurrence, and here is some information on how rare it is, even information was sparse.
"Dan Joyce, astronomer at Triton College’s Cernan Space Center, tells us that the odds are that any lunar phase will occur twice on a particular calendar date in any 59-year period. However, we will have to wait a bit longer than that for the city’s next Christmas Eve full moon. The last one occurred here in 1996 and before that in 1950, 1931 and 1882, but not many of us will be around for the next one, in 2102. There will actually be Christmas Eve full moons in the Eastern Hemisphere before then, in 2026, 2045 and 2083 based on UTC (Universal time). But in Chicago, the moment of fullness will occur during the evening hours of Dec. 23
According to Dan Joyce, astronomer at Triton College's Cernan Space Center, the probability of a full moon on Christmas is the same as it is every other day of the year: occurring an average of twice in any 59-year period. For a while, a full moon will occur on a specific date every 19 years. But since theEperiod of repetition is actually 18.61 years and there is an added leap day every four years, it eventually lapses into a longer repetitive period. The last time a full moon occurred on Christmas Day was 26 years ago in 1977. Next year, the moon will "appear full" on Christmas but the actual occurrence will be on Dec. 26 at 9:06 a.m. Full moons on Christmas will return to the 19-year repetition cycle starting in 2015, occurring again in 2034, 2053 and 2072.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon and 9 p.m.'

Watching the Full Cold Moon, the Long Nights Moon, the Moon after Yule, Ice Moon, but for this year it is the Christmas Moon, Which far outshines any Holiday lighting displays and it rises above the tall spruces outside my window.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

"Tis the season" and a long one it is at our house, to celebrate the winter Holidays. Amid the celebrating and I think as important as the celebrating is reflection. So let me begin with this one, about the wonderful family I was lucky enough to live next to when I was a kid, OK a little kid. In their dinning room, above the stand that held the silver coffee service was hung a framed textile that said "God Jul" , and being an inquisitive child, I asked what it meant, and it was explained to me that it meant "Merry Christmas" in Norwegian. In my maturing brain it clicked the Yuletide was another way of saying Christmas. There was so very much more I would learn as the years went on.

The Solstice, the longest night of the year, which occurs at 4:49 UTC today, also known as Yule, a Quarter day in the Pagan year, that corresponded with the celebration of Christmas in the Christian part of Europe. A celebration that welcomes the lengthening hours of day light, is filled with feasting, decorating the house, merriment and get-togethers, and of course the celebration of the returning daylight. Yule is a time not as much for looking back as Christmas and New Years seems to be now, but a time for looking forward.

Yesterdays sunset appeared to come before 3PM, though actually in was approx. 4:45. that is less than 9 hours of daylight. A remarkable thing happens in the days around the solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere, the earth's axis begins to tilt away from the sun, the suns rays reach the greatest distance from the equator.

Though the Mediterranean is enjoying rather warmer weather, this is the traditional day for planting garlic, and for harvesting the garlic planted on the summer solstice. Or so I have been told. It is also one of the days that in many homes, a candle in a jar is place in the window, and it is kept lit until the 3 Kings arrive on Epiphany. A similar tradition was observed at my house, and being allowed to start a new candle was a great honor, at least to me it was.

The Norse tradition of bringing in an evergreen tree and decorating it, to encourage as well as welcome back the sun, was the beginning of our Christmas tree. Bedecked with heirloom and new ornaments that depict those things, activities and people we hold dear, it is more like the trees that decorated those long ago homes than one might think at first.

The greens and reds used then are still used today. The hardy survivors of winter who remain green even in the oldest weather.

"Treeing" the custom of going from house to see how the neighbors are doing , sample their home brew and probably to hear the latest gossip, carries with it, locally at least, collecting a custom of pinching a few needles from your hosts Christmas tree and saving them for next year. Which I would not be surprise to learn is a custom based on the saving a bit of the yule log for the next years fire. When I was clearing out my grandparents house, I discovered a forgotten box of Christmas candles, and in it was, and still is a large number of pine, hemlock and spruce needles.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Saturday, December 19, 2015

On this day in Philly history in 1841, the first department store Santa Claus made his debut at a dry-goods store. James Parkinson, confectioner and merchant, hired a man to dress up as Kris Kringle, and climb down the chimney of his store. Thanks to vigorous promotion around the city, thousands of children visited “Santa” at what became known as “Kris Kringle’s Headquarters.” Within a few decades, the presence of Santa at stores became a common fixture across the United States.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Saturday, December 12, 2015

What is it about snow, you can love it and hate it at the same time. The first snow of the season halted classes even in High School for a few minutes, watching those scanty little flakes fall was infinitely more interesting than Algerbra, or any other subject for that matter.Even though I'm still not a fan of snow, I have to admit that there is something almost magically transfixing about the first snowfall. To me at least it is tranquil, gentle and silent, after the excitement and rush of summer and fall, it was about staying home and curling up with a good book. And may-be some sled riding. And after all these years it still is, only I have traded the sled riding for walking, most of the time anyway. An opinion that lasts until I think there is more snow than there needs to be. How much is too much? Not that much really. Snow floating and fluttering down peaceably covering the bare trees and browned grass, the muddy spots and whatever, makes the world look fresh and new, and it really smells good too. From the tiny icy flakes to the huge lake effect flakes that turn the world into a giant snowglobe, they are all beautiful in their own way. Recalling the Dickensian, Victorian and Home for the Holidays images we have of Christmas. Christmas is celebrated across much of the globe, but comparatively few places have snow. The greeting card images of snow covered landscapes as close to snow and many will ever get. Most years there is Christmas snow, and I for one am convinced that Christmas snow is magical. Years ago my little family spent Christmas Eve with my parents and stayed over so that they could see my then very young son open his presents. There is no nothing like watching kids open presents on Christmas morning, even when this isn't any snow. Then the "grown ups" opened their gifts, most were sensible things, like socks, the last package to be opened was for me, it was the carefully sanded and painted toy train that my Father got for Christmas and had lost 70 years ago, he found it while working on the house. I was overcome. I held that little train in my hands during the long trip home, as I watched my son sleeping in his car seat. My heart was truly filled with Christmas joy.Still miles from home I said, "If there is anything that could make this Christmas more perfect, it would be a little snow." Hubby replied " Especially if it starts closer to home." The trip continued on in silence, and less than two miles from home, tiny snowflakes began to appear on the windshield. By the time we turned into our driveway, the snowflakes had turned into big fluffy lake effect flurries.